1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a woman's garment, and, more particularly, to a woman's top, which incorporates a sling-type device to provide support for a woman's breasts.
2. Description of Related Art
Most women wear a bra to support their breasts, particularly, when leaving their home, and when wearing a dress, blouse or other type of top. Because of the inconvenience and problems of wearing known bras, numerous devices have been proposed in which a bra is combined with a garment for convenience, or other purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,174 to Cordova discloses a woman's tank top, having an outer shell, adapted to be suspended from the wearer's shoulders by a plurality of shoulder straps and an independently supported shelf bra having front and back portions secured about their top edges to the outer shell. An elastic band is provided about the lower edges of the shelf bra in order to secure it to a wearer. The front portion of the shelf bra is shirred to form two pockets to permit the front portions of the bra to conform to a wearer's breasts.
A further prior art device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,246 to Cooley et al. The Cooley et al. patent provides a combined two-piece swimsuit with a built-in bra. The bra has a front and a back, and straps positionable over the shoulder's of a wearer with oppositely disposed arm openings and enlarged lower openings, positionable about a wearer beneath the arm openings. The bra is fabricated with two adjacent cups in the front for supporting the breasts of a full figured woman, and has a back strap with centrally disposed fasteners for putting on and taking off the bra.
Another known prior art device is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,915 to Luedy, which comprises a post-mastectomy garment, having one or two pockets in the breast area of a facing that is attached to a bodice of the garment. A breast prosthesis may be placed in one or both of the pocket areas.
Further known devices are set forth in U.S. design Pat. No. 393,243 to Ferguson and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,746,007 to Hand et al. and 4,590,945 to Fiel.
However, none of the known prior art patents disclose the instant invention in which a sling-type supporting element is formed to support the breasts of a user, so as to enhance the wearer's appearance, while reducing discomfort. In particular, the present invention provides women, especially those with larger breasts, a freer appearance or look, while still supporting the breasts to prevent sagging. The sling-type bra of the present invention allows a wearer to feel more attractive, more confident, comfortable and sexy. In addition, the sling-type breast support of the present invention may be incorporated in a garment, such as a T-shirt, blouse, tank top, or the like, so as to eliminate the need for wearing a separate bra. The sling-type breast support of the present invention meets a long-felt need for in the art for a comfortable, non-confining breast support, which solves known problems with existing bras, either when worn alone, or when secured or fixed in an article of clothing.